Heart, Smarts, Guts, and Luck — What It Takes To Be An Entrepreneur and Build a Great Business is a new book by Anthony K. Tjan, Richard J. Harrington, and Tsun-Yan Hsieh.
I first met Tony Tjan in 2006 when he was doing some consulting work for Knovel Corporation in New York, where I am an investor and board director. Tony is managing partner of the venture capital firm Cue Ball and was the founder of one of the first Internet consulting companies. Tony subsequently became an investor and board director at Knovel. More important than the many titles that Tony holds, he is a really smart guy and a joy to work with. He totally gets the Internet and how companies should take advantage of it. I can’t resist adding that Tony has a Net Attitude.
Dick Harrington is Chairman of Cue Ball and was formerly CEO of Thomson Corporation, which he transformed into Thomson Reuters, the largest information services company in the world. I first met Dick in 2010 when he became chairman of the board at Knovel. He has brought great insight to the company and I have learned a lot from him.
Tsun-yan Hsieh is a widely respected business guru who has become a trusted counselor to founders, CEOs, and boards throughout the Americas and Asia. I don’t know Tsun-yan, but if he is a friend of Tony and Dick, he must be a very smart person and an important contributor to Hearts, Smarts, Guts, and Luck – hereinafter called HSGL.
HSGL is a must-read for anyone who is running a business or aspires to run a business. Many people think of themselves as entrepreneurs, but would have trouble defining what an entrepreneur is. HSGL does just that. The easy to read book slices and dices each of the four terms and translates them into common sense terminology that we can all understand. You may think you have a big heart, a quick mind, guts, or natural-born luck, but HSGL can help you see yourself as others see you and give you an introspective analysis of what those four special words really mean. The book is full of real-world examples and witty “how to” lists that can serve you well in any field of endeavor.
Want to know your entrepreneurial profile and find out if you have what it takes to build a great business? Visit hsgl.com to get the answer. Each of us tends to personify one of these traits in our day to day interactions, and hsgl.com will show you which trait is dominant, and how to leverage that trait as a tool to build and lead a great business. You can find the book at Amazon.